iDVD is complex, this site helps

iDVD FAQ

Make sure you are using the latest QuickTime, and as always, work with high quality source material (properly sized photos [640 X 480] for slides and/or properly processed digital video [ 720 X 480] for movies). iDVD 4 & 5 now use the same encoding technology used in Compressor 1.2 and DVD Studio Pro 2.0.5…the same codec as Apple’s professional video utility, ‘Compressor’.

Compressor uses a 2-pass VBR encoding method that first analyzes the entire file and then uses that data during a second pass encoding stage to intelligently distribute bit allocation per frame. The result? An optimized MPEG-2 file with consistent visual quality.

Ok, this is complicated. Good site.

MaxEmail: send/receive fax service.

Do you know the MAC number of your hardware?

MacInTouch Home Page

Good advice in Macintouch (from a reader). In addition to storing the serial numbers of devices, also recard the ethernet MAC address. That number uniquely identifies most laptops and most theives won't touch it.

Free FullWrite Professional is still out there

Free FullWrite Professional™ Document Processor

Dave Trautman's site allows one to download a full copy of the last version of FullWrite Professional. If MORE 3.1 was the ultimate outliner (OmiOutliner Pro 3.x may rival it now), then FullWrite Pro was the ultimate wordprocessor. Like MORE, it's now available for free.

It apparently runs in the OS X classic emulation mode, though it gives a FOND error message that can be ignored. I remember FW Pro as a monster -- it required megabytes (at least one) of hard drive space and maybe 1-2 megabytes of memory. It really strained my SE/30. It was also buggy when I used its full features in the earlier versions, but it was an astounding wordprocessor. It was also a quite decent outliner.

iPod sound quality: Shuffle > iPod 3G > iPod Mini > iPod Photo?

Opinion Column: Shuffle's Got a Secret

Fascinating. There's more to an 'mp3 player' than a hard drive.

The iPod shuffle's near-perfect rendering of the square wave means that it uses push-pull output instead of the single-ended, capacitor-coupled output found in just about every other player. You just can't get this kind of audio performance from a single-ended circuit. I find Apple's audiophile approach exciting on several different levels. You can hear the improvement; will Apple incorporate the same technology in future hard drive players? And technologically, it's fascinating. My inner geek wants answers to half a dozen questions, including how they're generating the negative power supply voltage and whether they've gone with a capacitorless design. I've asked Apple, but so far the company is mum.

I believe I proved that my ears were right: Several other hard drive players edge out older Apple players, but the iPod shuffle does them all one better. I think I also proved conclusively that the iPod mini's output capacitors are woefully undersized, as some audiophiles have been saying since Apple introduced the device. I also found that the iPod mini has lots of harmonic distortion—everywhere but at the industry-standard 1-KHz measuring point.

A Macintouch article claims the newer iPod Photos have sound quality substantially worse than the older iPods. I'm glad the audiophiles are starting to test these things out.

Freeverse : Bumpercar 2.0 OS X WebKit Child-safe browser

Freeverse : Bumpercar 2.0

via Macintouch:

Freeverse Software's BumperCar 2.0 is a web browser for children. The browser filters objectionable web content, limits the sharing of personal information, forces Google to use a "Safe Search" mode, includes parental controls, and more. This release has been completely re-written using Apple's WebKit for enhanced stability, speed, and compatibility. It also adds new home page options for a wider age range of children, safety settings available across all accounts on the computer, and other changes. BumperCar is $29.95 for Mac OS X 10.3.

I want this. I also want the old, long lost, aftermarket shell that put a fun and childproof wrapper around Mac Classic. Alas, that company went under.

Home PBX: Asterisk

Asterisk

Jacob Reider directed me to this one:

Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in three protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware.

Asterisk provides Voicemail services with Directory, Call Conferencing, Interactive Voice Response, Call Queuing. It has support for three-way calling, caller ID services, ADSI, SIP and H.323 (as both client and gateway). Check the Features section for a more complete list.

He's put a home PBX in his basement. This is one of the more astounding Linux developments I've come across; it feels like the start of something quite interesting. I wonder if we'll see an array of low cost embedded Linux capabilities of this sort.

No wonder the phone companies are working hard to destroy VOIP telephony.